Transcript: Troy's Blakeney, players react to 3rd roadgame loss

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney

Opening Statement

"Most of you know the score by now
and know we lost another road game against a darn good football team. Maybe not
the best in their league, but well coached and they score the ball just about
as good as anybody. We were able to score some points ourselves, but we
couldn't score enough in the end. We get a field goal late to try to get to a
one-score margin to win and were able to get that. I was sort of shocked they
kicked the field goal in the end. We were down by four and they had burned the
clock down pretty good, but the field goal put them back up by seven and we did
a few things in the end to give us a chance to score. Our only turnover was the
interception on the Hail Mary. There were a lot of positives, but the big stat,
the W and the L, went they wrong way. We've got to maintain our level of energy
and effort. We've got to do things more efficiently offensively and defensively
as far as tackling and keeping coaching them fundamentally. I still believe we
can make a push, but its starts Saturday against a very tough opponent. I'm
concerned and it's going to take great preparation to beat South Alabama."

On defense's progress through
the first five games

"I think we are close. We make too
many silly mistakes in the secondary and that's maybe our fault. There is a lot
to learn. I think our method of defense at practice is as good as we can get
it. We're doing everything we can do. I'm not going to put a bunch of pressure
on the defense, I'm putting the pressure on the whole group as one."

On players only team meeting on
Sunday afternoon

"I walked into the meeting room
and left. They got there early to meet and I granted them that privilege.
Sometimes as a group you need a cleansing of your mind, your heart, your
spirit. Sometimes you need to air things out as a team and I've never seen one
of those things hurt a team."

On how Troy's team has grown
together

"I think it comes from
relationships and how you were recruited. I think it comes from how you got
here and how you feel about the relationship with your coaches and head coach.
I've been a head coach a long time and I've worked for a couple of pretty good
head coaches. I've always been about relationships and when I recruit a guy I
tell him he won't go anywhere in America where he will be closer to the head
coach than at Troy."

On South Alabama

"I've said all along they will be
a factor this year. They're as good as anybody in our league in my opinion.
What I saw on film today validated my opinion. I've been seeing it coming and
they recruit well. We are going to have to play well to beat them."

On Homecoming atmosphere

"If they are distracted by
Homecoming activities it will not be because someone did it too them, it will
be because they did it to themselves. I've warned them about it and their concentration
needs to be on the game. I think we will get full cooperation with that."

Wide receiver Wilson Van Hooser

On catching first touchdown in
a Troy uniform

"It was awesome, especially the
dive (on the touchdown). My mom caught a snapshot if it and it was really cool."

On correcting mistakes after
losing three straight games

"We know what we need to do. We
still have our conference schedule. No one wants to lose games. Everyone
strives to win every single game. I think as a team we're ready to go and focus
on South Alabama."

On studying South Alabama's
defense

"Just watching film and getting to
know what they do. On offense we've got to read their coverage, their stunts
and their habits. Just spending lots of time studying them."

Quarterback Corey Robinson

On losing three straight road
games

"If there is a good way to think
about these last three road games is that we lost only once to a Sun Belt team.
It was brutal mentally. I felt like this last game we had it. We were close again,
but I wasn't acceptable. We've got to score touchdowns. We're doing decent on
offense and the defense held their own in the second half. If we can continue
to carry the momentum we got last week into conference play it will be big."

On how high-scoring offenses
affect defenses in college football

"It's a constant battle. With the
way football is changing I think that's how it's going to be. Old school teams
are now going up-tempo because that kind of offense is so hard to start.
Hopefully some things will go our way, breaks wise. As far as keeping up with
the other team, we have to get better in practice and continue to play hard."

On the outlook for the rest of
the season

"Three losses in a row will make
you think about ourselves after we went through a 3-9 season two years ago.
Having a players meeting yesterday helped us figure out what we need to do get
back to a bowl game and to win the Sun Belt Conference Championship."

On South Alabama

"They are much improved. I think
they lead the conference in interceptions. They've got good coaches and good
players. They keep coming up. The big part about this week is that I think we
will be mentally prepared. It's going to be a good football game."

Defensive end Marty Stadom

On Troy's defensive performance

"I don't think we are holding the
offense down, we just got to help them out more. We haven't gotten together as
a unit yet, but I felt like we came to together against Duke and played good
defense in the second half."

On slowing down Duke's offense
in the second half last week

"I felt like we got an attitude
towards the end of the game. We let everything go and we got an attitude in the
second half and that gives me confidence going into this week."

On playing at Veterans Memorial
Stadium for the first time since Sept. 7

"It's good to be home. I feel like
we do better with our home crowd behind our back."